"I was getting phone calls [from clients and] I could hear screaming in the background, fights in the background," said O'Shaughnessy. "Nobody in charge and then the government giving media talks about how everything was just fine."

O'Shaughnessy said the attack wouldn't have been nearly as bad if guards had been in charge at the time.

"Although people were trying their best, obviously the government was not prepared for the wildcat strike," she said.

McArthur suffered a broken nose. Several bones around his eye were shattered and required surgery.

After pleading guilty, Neault apologized for his actions.

"I feel ashamed. I know I'm a better person than that," he said. "It will never happen again."

Neither the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represented the guards, nor the RCMP would comment on the conditions at the remand centre during the strike.

Boland pleaded guilty in October to aggravated assault and will be sentenced on Wednesday.